Within the small town of Buellton lies a hidden gem, tucked away and almost easy to miss ones journey through the state. Okay creative writing class aside, I was pleasantly surprised how gorgeous this Inn was - sliding barnyard doors, spacious rooms, and incredibly comfortable beds make for the perfect pit stop for our family's Christmas trip. My mother actually wanted to book another place that's a bit more well known located just down the street, but I've always had less than great experiences there. So I took the liberty of arranging accommodations this time around and I don't regret it. Some of my favourite features of Sideways Inn include:

- Breakfast is delivered to your front door at whatever time you like. Though there was quite a limited selection, the idea of not having to trot around an open space full of half asleep guests trying to get their breakfast could not be beat
- The Inn provides shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand soap and even lotion by means of a huge pump bottle for each. Let's face it - "theft" of hotel toiletries is as common past time as watching baseball. When people take those small bottles of shampoo and conditioner, when do they actually end up using them? That's what I thought. Those pump bottles are a life saver for someone like me who'd rather not pack my own toiletries but is annoyed by how the dinky amount hotels usually give guests. Plus those pump bottles match the aesthetic of the room.
- Most. Comfortable. Pillows. Ever.
- Check in and check out was a breeze.
- The mini fridge was pretty huge and empty so we got to fill it with our drinks (I don't care much for those pre-filled fridges where you pay to eat/drink the contents of the fridge.)
- Never seen a hotel room have a white noise machine so I loved that, though my dad turned it off after about an hour or so.

If I were to make suggestions for improvement:

1. Please add more items to your breakfast selection. There's probably a reason why it's so limited but a croissant or cereal would be fab
2. The water pressure of the shower was quite weak. Is there a way pump a bit more out of those bad boys?
3. The TV remote wasn't working so we had to go up to the TV to look for shows and increase and decrease the volume

These inconveniences were minor enough that I was able to overlook it since everything else was great. Overall would recommend this Inn to anybody looking to book!

Fast, efficient, and friendly, Mark and his team were in and out of the apartment and into our new one within a couple of hours. I always dread moving because of how labour intensive it is but the guys made the transition pain free. Mark was also accommodating enough to have our move happen later on in the day. They are true professionals and would highly recommend hiring them to anyone considering moving.

After doing 5 room escape puzzles in the past, I thought I've seen it all - until my friends and I decided to do an impromptu challenge at Lockdown.

Right after losing my 5th challenge, we drove here and I immediately noticed the huge posters on the wall, each depicting a room. After reading a disclaimer which they made us do (none of the other venues made us do it), they told us we had one hour vs what other companies had - 45 mins. We chose the Abandoned Dormitory. As soon as we walked in, I thought it was bizarre that we only had to get out of the one room. Spoiler alert - there is a second room. Anyway I loved that they put more thought into the decor and that the room was super interactive (I'm not spoiling anything for you anymore, sorry!). We watched a video to help set the mood and then our timer started to count down. Hints are given by staff if you're stuck and although they only had a limit of 2 clues, the extra 15 mins really made a huge difference.

If you're thinking of doing a room escape challenge, give Lockdown a shot. 10/10 would recommend and would go again.

The date: August 3rd, 2014
The time: 4 pm
The event: Pride long weekend

Knowing that it's Pride, it's a given that any establishment along Davie St would have a line up. (Well.. almost all of them) Even though Yuko Maki had a line up, my friend was charmed by the AYCES sign out their door. We were told the wait would be 15 mins, which isn't really too bad. Our wait felt a lot less shorter than 15 mins as we were in and seated in no time.

AYCES is serious business. And by serious, I mean we're not getting up until we physically can not get up. Between the 2 rounds of orders and 1.5 hours we spent there, we had variety of sashimi, karaage, sushi, tempura, tonkatsu, teriyaki etc. Since it's Pride, we had to have alcohol; we ordered 2 bottles of Asahi to help wash all this down. The only complaints I have:

1. The sushi was a little dry
2. The chicken teriyaki was somewhat swimming in the sauce

Other than that the dishes were tasty, portions were enough, and everything was seasoned well. I'd also like to add that servers were walking around frequently refilling people's water. That's major, considering it was pretty hot outside and their A/C didn't seem to be working. In their defense, I think it's because the place is packed and their doors were never closed due to the line up.

The washrooms situation was a little disappointing. There were no paper towels and there was barely any toilet paper left. That's a minor detail for me but if I had to go and that's the deck of cards I was dealt with, this review would go the opposite way.

I'd definitely come back and dine here again.